Comments on: Comparison-shop for cheaper car insurance quoteshttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/
small change toward a rich lifeThu, 01 Aug 2019 22:06:53 +0000hourly1By: Jameshttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-9841
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 20:08:56 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-9841if you do not make a claim, your insurance still goes up year on year.
Don’t stay with the same insurer and your insurance will stay competitive, insurers don’t have any loyalty to you what so ever,
]]>By: Karawynnhttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8339
Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:44:09 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8339Yeah, I consider those things minor annoyances, not poor customer service per se, but they do add up, and at some point it would be not worth the savings. Apparently that point for me is something south of $17, as that was the gap between Progressive and Ameriprise. :} I can understand someone else having a different price point; I am just saving all the dollars right now.

I want to go back to something I kind of skipped past in your previous comment, about your Prius battery. Does it really die often and without warning? Eek?

Jak and I have both wanted a hybrid or electric car for a long time; the only thing stopping us is the cost. But the idea that one needs regular roadside assistance for dead batteries is disconcerting.

]]>By: Amandahttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8309
Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:44:13 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8309Partly I was responding to three things you mentioned about Ameriprise (hit-or-miss website, long paper application, auto-billing your credit card as only option), which seem not so customer friendly. But partly I was talking about myself: since I like Geico and have had only positive experiences dealing with them, the savings would need to be significant for me to leave them. Now that I see how much you saved, it seems worth checking out.
]]>By: Karawynnhttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8306
Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:49:36 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8306Hi Mark. USAA has a reputation for good value — they score near the top in Consumer Reports studies, for example. We’re not eligible for their coverage because neither Jak nor I are members of the military, and neither were any of our parents. Otherwise I would certainly have checked their rates as one of my five.

I’m concerned that you think ‘actively representing you in claims’ is an unusually high level of service, however. That should be completely ordinary, and in fact has been the case with every auto insurance company I’ve ever used. I would count ‘leaves you on your own to deal with claims’ as strangely poor customer service, and certainly cause for finding a different provider.

My point with this article — which after two comments about customer service I am concerned I may not have communicated well — is not ‘pay less for crappy service’, but that there are plenty of insurance companies with good service, and one of them might be a lot cheaper. Or not — like I said, I stayed with Progressive for several years because they kept having the best deal for us. But I kept checking the competition periodically, so it was an informed decision.

]]>By: Karawynnhttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8305
Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:36:18 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8305Amanda, those two things are not mutually exclusive — they could very well be wanting to keep an existing customer in your case, and lure in a new one in mine. Though certainly lowering your rate retroactively with no input from you is going above and beyond the usual! Maybe I’m just excessively cynical. :)

However, without checking what other companies would have charged you, you can’t assume that even Geico’s lowered rate is the best one. Maybe they dropped your rate by $100 to keep you feeling loyal, but you could have saved $300 somewhere else. Or $1000. How would you know?

I agree that good customer service and convenience are valuable. However, I have not yet had bad customer service anywhere, so until that happens it’s a pure price competition.

]]>By: Markhttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8303
Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:30:55 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8303I’ve been with USAA for years, and when I’ve checked (which has been a while) no one was able to beat their rates. As long as their rates are reasonable, I don’t think I’d switch, because the quality of their customer service (actively representing me in claims rather than letting me work it out with the other company) is so high that it’s worth it even if they did cost a bit more.
]]>By: Amandahttp://pocketmint.net/2012/08/comparison-shop-for-cheaper-car-insurance-quotes/comment-page-1/#comment-8301
Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:19:40 +0000http://pocketmint.net/?p=3266#comment-8301I understand your suspicions and you may be right that they are trying to gouge you, but I have to say that I have had Geico for years and they have never jacked up my rate–in fact, in the past year, they lowered it once and sent a refund (based on a periodic review of my credit score, not a request from me), and then went back farther to lower it retroactively and sent another refund. Plus my policy has roadside service coverage for $1.40 a month, which for me is close enough to free and is fabulous–I use it constantly because my Prius’s battery dies at the drop of a hat, and there is no paperwork and they never hassle me about it.

To me, good customer service and convenience make things seem not quite apples to apples, but I get your point about cost being the bottom line. And I will definitely get some quotes after I read your upcoming post!